Arimaa/Attacking/Attacks Against a Camel Trap

When a camel is decentralized at home, the opponent might attack either trap. The trap not defended by the camel could be vulnerable, but the camel trap might be a good target also, as an elephant prefers to be near the enemy camel. Like a camel hostage, a strong attack against the enemy camel trap could allow one's own camel to dominate elsewhere. If the defending camel can take an attacker hostage, however, the attacking elephant might then be stuck defending it while the enemy elephant dominates the board. Such attacks are sharp, and the whole board must be considered.

It is easier to attack against a camel which is not supported by a friendly horse. Without a horse in front, a camel may have trouble holding a key square (and potentially keeping a hostage). A weak piece in front could be pulled away by any piece stronger than itself, perhaps leaving the camel vulnerable to the elephant. With this in mind, such attacks are commonly employed against setups which place the camel on one wing and both horses on the other.

Eventually, the defending camel could be at risk of capture. If the camel is pushed or pulled toward the attacker's home trap, the attacker may have threats in both traps. An attacker might sometimes move his elephant into a corner for this purpose, but must watch out for a blockade or a threat on the other wing.

Boo vs. chessandgo

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Before 2g: Silver attempts to exploit Gold's setup.

This game was played in the 2013 Arimaa World Championship. Gold used an HH setup; Silver then set up with his camel directly facing Gold's horses, and his dogs facing Gold's camel on the other wing. The silver dogs can advance along with their elephant, as the gold camel would waste its strength fighting dogs and likely could not even keep a hostage. If the gold elephant goes east to defend, Silver will be strong in the west. Gold has no clear prospect for an attack on c6 or f6, as Silver is likely to get a strong hostage if the gold camel advances in the east or a gold horse advances in the west.

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Before 6g: Silver prepares an eastern attack.

• 6g Ed6s cd7s Ed5e cd6s. Gold moves his elephant toward the coming eastern fight, pulling along a silver cat which he hopes to capture before Silver's attack is far advanced. Given what follows, the cat pull was probably a mistake.
• 6s De3w ee4s dg6s rg8s. Silver continues to advance in the east, and now threatens an immediate capture in f3. If the gold camel steps forward to defend, it will risk being pushed toward f6 if the silver elephant can move through the trap.
• 7g cd5s Ee5w Mg2n Cf2n. Gold advances both his camel and cat; by occupying the f3 trap, Gold blocks the silver elephant or horse from immediately moving through it. Gold threatens the silver cat in c3.
• 7s hf5s hb6ss mb7s. The eastern silver horse threatens to push through to f2 (pushing the gold cat onto g2 so the gold camel couldn't immediately take the horse hostage) or flip the gold cat to f5. The western silver horse threatens a gold dog, thereby restricting the gold elephant. With both gold dogs frozen, the silver cat cannot be captured.

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Before 10s: A silver cat holds f2.

• 8g Rf1n Mg3n Rh3w Cc2e. The gold camel freezes the attacking silver horse and dogs, while two gold rabbits now defend the f3 trap.
• 8s Dd3w ee3w cd4es. The silver cat escapes, and joins the attack on f3 while the silver elephant defends c3. It is unusual for a cat to be such a strong attacker in the opening, but Gold's imbalance has allowed for this.
• 9g Dc4ee Ed5e Rc1n. Gold could move his elephant onto e3 and threaten both the cat and horse, but Silver could then concede those captures and still come out ahead. After 9g Ed5es ce3s Ee4s 9s Dc4n hb4e Dc5nx hc4n 10g Ee3n Cf3w hf4sx Mg4w, the silver camel could immediately dislodge the b3 horse and thus capture the c3 dog, while threatening further captures in the west. Gold thus opts for a 9g that will save his dogs; the silver cat remains a strong attacker.
• 9s ce3s Rf2s ce2e ed3e. Silver gets an away frame. While not yet solid, this frame presents an immediate threat since the pinned piece is a rabbit.
• 10g Rg1n Rf1e Re1e Dc3e. Gold declines another tempting move: the gold elephant could have captured the f7 rabbit in f6, where Gold would have then had follow-up threats. However, after 10g Ee5nn rf7sx Ee7e 10s cf2ew Rg3s Cf3x 11g dg5w Mg4n df5nx Mg5w 11s ee3e hf4es ef3n, Gold would scramble to avoid disaster in f3, and Silver would at least get ahead. Gold is thus correct not to go for such an attack on f6. Instead, Gold protects his framed cat and pinned rabbit by blockading g2 and occupying d3.

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Before 16g: The gold camel is fenced.

• 10s rh8sss rg7s. By unfreezing the h4 dog, this move threatens the f3 cat, which could be the first domino to fall.
• 11g hf4n Mg4w De4w Ee5s. The gold camel defends f3, and the gold elephant protects the camel. The gold elephant could have directly defended the trap, but would have then been farther from the silver camel, which might soon advance in the west.
• 11s dh4w Rg3e dg4s hb4e. With g3 now accessible, Silver again frames the gold cat, this time pinning the gold camel and by extension the gold elephant. The western silver horse steps to c4, making way for the silver camel to advance in the west. Gold could now capture the silver horse in c3, but Silver would then capture a cat and camel in return; after 12g Dd4n Ee4w hc4sx Ed4w 12s hf5w ee3n Mf4n Cf3x ee4e, the gold camel would be hopelessly forked.
• 12g Cd2s Dd3se Dd4s. Gold aims to break the new f3 frame from behind. Given Silver's next move, perhaps a step should have been spent occupying b2.
• 12s mb6ss Hb3s mb4s. Silver's camel advance renders both gold horses passive, and the silver horse now threatens to move through the c3 trap. The silver elephant could soon join the attack on c3; Gold must make sure that Silver would pay a price for moving his elephant.
• 13g Cd1n Rb1e Rf1w. Gold blockades c2, and prepares to push the silver cat to f1.
• 13s hc4s Dd3n hc3e hf5w. Silver takes d3, creating an immediate capture threat in c3 and a potential capture threat in c6.
• 14g Dd4w cf2s De2e Rh3n. Gold adds a defender to each home trap, but the dog is vulnerable on c4.
• 14s re8ss he5ww. Silver threatens to clean up in the west.
• 15g Ee4wn hd3n Cd2n. Gold defends in the west, but leaves his camel vulnerable in the east.
• 15s ee3n Mf4n ee4e dg3n. Silver pushes the gold camel to f5 and blockades g5, leaving the camel with no way to escape. If the gold elephant were to now defend f6, Silver would be very strong in the west.
• 16g hc5w Ed5w Dc4w Ec5s. Gold concedes the camel loss, but aims to capture a silver camel or horse in return.
• 16s re6ws Cd3w hd4s. Silver defends c3, advancing a rabbit in the center to support the horse.
• 17g Ec4e hd3s Ed4s Cc3n. Gold threatens the silver camel and horse, but the other silver horse is ready to defend.
• 17s hb5e Cc4s hc5s dg4s. Gold cannot regain full control of c3, and will lose it totally if the gold elephant leaves. The gold horses contribute nothing, and Gold is overloaded.
• 18g Ha3n Db4n Ha4n Cf3w.
• 18s Mf5nx ef4n rb8s rd5s. Gold loses his camel for nothing.

Gold's HH setup left him vulnerable on both wings, and Silver's double-trap attack worked perfectly. Since Silver sets up second, Silver can exploit an HH setup by Gold much more easily than Gold could exploit such a setup by Silver.

Sharp vs. Browni

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Silver to move could capture the gold camel and create further threats in c3.

Gold began this game with his horses on the d- and g-files, and his camel on the b-file. Silver placed his elephant on the b-file, and immediately advanced it four squares. The gold camel stepped to c2 to avoid being pulled forward. On 7s, Silver pushed the d-file horse east, creating a threat to the gold camel in its own home trap. With his own camel in the east, Silver quickly overloaded Gold, who captured material but did little to stop Silver's western goal attack.

Sharp vs. Dolores

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Despite a material deficit, Silver can now get a strong attack against f3 by moving the g4 dog onto f2.

In this game between two top bots, Gold dragged down a silver horse on his camel wing. He soon framed the horse in f3, but could not easily rotate out his elephant, as his own horses were both in the west. Silver advanced more pieces in the east, and did not retreat her horse when the gold elephant stepped west to help force a rabbit capture in c3. When Gold again abandoned the frame to threaten the other silver horse in c3, Silver traded that horse for a dog. Gold was up in material, but had left his camel trap vulnerable to an advanced silver army. Once the gold elephant returned east to defend f3, the silver camel was the strongest piece in the west. The gold camel went north to defend f6 from behind, but Gold was overloaded at home, and no gold rabbit was able to advance and threaten goal.

As always, the whole board must be considered. In this game and this game, Silver got a strong attack that resulted in the capture of the gold camel in its own home trap, but Gold soon forced a goal on the other wing.